


Nobody Like You

by GirlKnownSomewhere



Category: The Monkees (Band), The Monkees (TV)
Genre: 1970s, Angst, Band Fic, Epilogue of sorts, Extramarital Affairs, F/M, Ficlet, One Shot, reunion of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlKnownSomewhere/pseuds/GirlKnownSomewhere
Summary: Jan spots an old flame from the past while considering what the next step in her life should be.
Relationships: Mike Nesmith/Jan Freeman
Kudos: 7





	Nobody Like You

**Author's Note:**

> I considered making this the epilogue of 'Until It's Time' originally, but then decided I didn't want the fic to finish with two open-ended endings. So it's getting its own post, heh. This is basically a fanfic-y recap of Jan's life post-"Monkees" with a little bit of Mike thrown in. It's a tiny update this time around, but the next two Mike/Jan ficlets in June will be a lot lengthier. Enjoy~ 🎵💫
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Monkees' brand, or Mike Nesmith's or Jan Freeman's likenesses.

One-shot: Nobody Like You

Burbank, May 1976

The next decade of Jan’s life after she leaves the Monkees’ sitcom was interesting, to say the least. She continued to be a regular background extra and body double on TV sets and even some movie productions for a few years. She enjoyed it and kept close friendships from the sets, including Valerie and Roxanne, which was easy since there was regularly some overlap with the crews on the shows. Her final gig in the television medium would be as the body double of popstar David Cassidy on his musical sitcom “The Partridge Family.” Like with “The Monkees,” love was on the set for Jan. She had her one and only public, legitimate relationship with a music star via David. It was the complete opposite of her history with Mike, and not only because the newer actor-popstar was two years younger than Jan. David was youthful, cute, fun and energetic, compared to Mike’s dark, aloof maturity and experience. Their dating made the “Partridge” shoots even more enjoyable and easy going, and Jan got her share of worldly experience from traveling with him to many concerts and press events. 

Her time as both David’s girlfriend and as his stand-in came to an end when she left the series before its final season. There wasn’t anything messy or surprising in the break-up. They just felt it was time. Jan was sad, naturally, but she wasn’t necessarily depressed and she was alright with that. She hadn’t been in a serious relationship since Mike (if you could even call it that), and chose to be a product of her generation with just casual dating for three years before David and since leaving him. Though, not many people can list Bobby Sherman, Steve McQueen and Gary Lockwood as some of those dates like she can. But the whole ‘free love’ concept hadn’t been embraced much by the young SoCal lady either. She wasn’t a virgin anymore, yet save for David and a couple of other guys she had gone out with since she turned 20, there was generally a lot more kissing going on than much else. Partly because David was really the only one she had felt a connection with for something more personal. But mostly because after discovering the consequences of getting involved with a married man, she felt like she almost didn’t deserve to be with someone legitimately.

“You want another take, Jan?”

The woman shook herself from her tiny trance as she heard the record producer from the other end of the room. Once she ended her tenure as a set extra, she quickly realized her life goals were still pretty aimless and unknown. That summer after she left Mike proved to be fruitless with the exception of having a few college credits to her resume. After “The Partridge Family,” Jan spent a couple of years as a professional rodeo jockey, which was a lot of fun. She enjoyed riding occasionally back when she was a teen, and it was intriguing to learn how to switch from English to western. Then one of David’s record producers she had become friendly with got a hold of her and asked for a demo of her singing vocals. She never actually imagined herself as a music artist until one time while out of town with David when his agent told her she had potential after hearing her sing along to the radio. At the time she figured he was just flattering her, but once performing with horses started losing its appeal, she decided to send a copy of her singing for the hell of it to Bell Records. And now, six months later, she was actually recording her own LP. She tried to tell herself it wasn’t too ironic how she chose country-pop, a genre Mike was very familiar with, to record for an album. And she tried to convince herself it was just coincidence people who like rodeos also like country music…

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Jan responded to Don, the producer of her record at the soundboard, while lowering her headphones for a moment. She was currently recording vocals for a cover of George Jones’ ‘Who’ll Turn Out the Lights.’ Her sunkissed hair from the 1960s now a full brunette shade and wavy from a cosmetic perm. She wore dark brown pants, a plain white short-sleeved shirt and a brown scarf. But she still didn’t care much for make-up.

“You know, I’m just going to say it again: you’d have a bigger chance of a hit with a disco track,” he claimed through the intercom.

“But I don’t care about disco,” she said.

“Yeah, but 500 million listeners do,” he countered. “Country’s kind of a niche market these days.”

“What about Glen Campbell or Dolly Parton?” Jan argued.

“They already have big, established fanbases,” Don explained. “Look, I like you and I think you’ve got a great presence, Jan. But to be completely honest, you’re lucky you got this much freedom with your song choices, especially as an unknown.”

“Yeah, I know,” she agreed with a sigh. “That’s why I acquiesced to covering the Cpt. & Tennille tune.”

“Yeah, so…”

“So why do you think Bruce offered me a contract?” She suddenly asked.

“Because you’re hot,” Don answered bluntly.

She exhaled in irritation and rubbed her temple. It didn’t escape her that he used the word ‘presence’ instead of something like ‘talent’ or ‘gift’ in his earlier comment. A half hour later, Jan and Don decided to take a coffee break. While strolling to the studio’s front entrance, Jan began wondering if anyone she knew back home might have any connections to some secretary work; since she was clearly kidding herself thinking she actually had a shot in the music industry. 

Right as she happened to lift her head and glance outside the glass door entrance, her body and senses paused instantly as she recognized the profile of a man across the street. Don noticed her stopping and looked to see what she found outside. 

“Oh yeah, Mike’s in town to start scheduling his next record,” he answered her unasked question. “You like the Monkees?”

“Yeah—I mean, sort of…one of my first jobs out of high school was playing a background extra on their sitcom,” she revealed.

“Really? That sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, it was…” She drifted as she got distracted studying Mike’s appearance. He had a full beard covering his face currently and his once familiar side part in his hair was now nonexistent. His wardrobe wasn’t much different, though it looked like he might have swapped boots for sneakers. Except for TV footage and magazine spreads, this was the first time since 1967 Jan had seen Mike in person. There was also a woman with short, platinum blonde hair next to him, who was ambiguous enough to look like she could either be an assistant or girlfriend. Jan hadn’t kept up regularly with the group by the time the ‘60s ended because of her personal history with Mike. But she did remember hearing Phyllis had left almost five years ago. Jan couldn’t help feel a tinge of guilt even though it was years after her association with Mike and there was a very low chance she was a direct cause of the separation.

“Bizarre he can’t seem to find a following on his own,” Don interrupted her wondering with. “Those solo records are pretty good.”

“‘Joanne’ was a hit,” Jan reminded him of Mike’s first single after he quit the Monkees, and one of the few songs of his she would recognize these days.

“Yeah, but looks like it might have been a fluke,” he asserted.

She didn’t respond and instead chose to keep walking outside of the studio with Don once she saw Mike and the woman enter the location opposite them. Which influenced Jan to go back to wondering what kind of coffee she felt like today, what job she wanted to take for her next stage of life, and how much longer it will take for her to just view Mike Nesmith as any other celebrity.


End file.
